The last two weeks were horrid. And by horrid, I mean absolutely horrendous. Baba and I were sequestered away to a house in God knows where, with no real access to the outside world. The only information I was able to get out of our security was that Adrian had also been placed in protective custody and that Dimitri and his family were safe.

But I needed more than that. I needed to hear his voice, to hear him say that he was okay.

Because of risks, we weren't allowed access to the internet, and only Baba was allowed to leave, and even then it was for an hour and we had officers with him.

I was starting to go stir crazy because as far as we knew, we were here until they caught Nathan. A selfish part of me worried about my scholarship, being out of school for long periods of time would seriously hurt my acceptance and scholarship.

At this very moment, Baba was out getting some clothes for us while I stayed behind with Agent Pevensie, or Jean as she liked to be called. She was calm as she sat on the couch, watching me pace in the living room because I was going out of my mind. Jean's phone rang, making me stop in my place.

"Yes. Alright," Jean said pulling her phone away from her ear and looking at me, "You have five minutes. No more, no less, do not give any information about where we are," Jean continued, extending the phone to me.

I looked at it before taking the phone from her and gingerly lifted it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi Roza."

I sighed in relief and sat down on the chair behind me. "Comrade."

Words tumbled from my mouth, asking him questions a mile a minute. Asking him about what exactly happened with his father, if it was just him and his mother in protective custody, if his sisters were ok. Dimitri answered them quickly so that we can have more time to talk.

"I'm sorry that you're in this situation, Rose. I feel like this is my fault," Dimitri apologized, while I shook my head. It was in no way his fault.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I placated, but Dimitri interrupted me.

"It's my father's fucked up family that's caused this mess, I feel somewhat responsible because I exposed you to this."

"Dimitri, listen to me. This was in no way, shape, or form, your fault. You have to believe that," I said softly, cradling the phone against my ear when Jean caught my attention, gesturing that my time was up.

"Comrade, our time is up. Don't beat yourself up anymore. I don't blame you. Tell your mom I hope she is well. I love you," I rushed out, hating that I only got to have five minutes to talk to him.

"I will Roza. I love you too. So much," Dimitri said before the line cut off.

I sighed and handed the phone back to Jean before flopping back onto the chair.

They need to find Nathan quickly.

Jean gave me a sympathetic look, patting my hand. "I pulled a lot of strings to get you that phone call," she said quietly, giving me a small smile. I nodded my head and gave her a small smile in return.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "How long are we expected to be here?"

Jean looked down at her fingers and sighed. "Hopefully, three weeks max. From when I've been told, we're starting to close in on Ivashkov," Jean said.

"Is Randall in protective custody too?"

"Sort of," Jean said, "He offered himself up as bait, so to speak. He figured he could lure Nathan out. And from what Adrian Ivashkov told the police, he would be mad enough to try and find Randall, regardless of the price on his head."

I nodded my head and ran my hand through my hair. "Is there any chance of me getting out for a run. For half an hour?" I asked, furrowing my brows. Maybe it would help me relax a bit.

Jean frowned. "Highly unlikely until the rest of the group get back."

I grumbled and leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes in hopes of napping some of this nightmare away.

I kicked my feet back and forth as I looked at the catalogue, reading the details about campus and housing. I was supposed to be studying but decided to work out where I wanted to live while at school.

I flipped the page and sighed, stuck between three choices when something small and hard hit my eye. I flinched back and blinked, groaning in discomfort and displeasure.

"Oops. Sorry, Roza. I was aiming for your forehead," Dimitri said with a laugh, shit eating grin on his face. I scoffed and picked up whatever it was that hit me, finding that it was a wrapped chocolate peanut butter cup. I gave Dimitri a faux glare and unwrapped the chocolate and popped it in my mouth.

"How are you the start quarterback and you can't even hit a target six feet away from you?" I asked, raising my brows at him.

Dimitri laughed again and ate a candy of his own, pushing up and resting on his elbows on the floor.

"Maybe I was distracted by how beautiful and sexy my girl is?" Dimitri cantered, winking at me.

I let it slide and gave him a smile, crossing my ankles together and adjusted the pillow under my chest as I continued to look at my catalogue. I heard Dimitri get up from his place on the floor, and the bed dipped beside me as Dimitri kneeled over me.

"That doesn't look like studying," Dimitri said, tucking some hair behind my ear. I looked up at him out of the corner of my eye and smirk.

"I'm studying about my upcoming living situation," I joked, wagging my brows at him. Dimitri laughed and continued to read over my should, his hair now longer and brushing against my neck as he leaned down. Dimitri pointed out a few nice things about the one place I was looking at but turned his nose up slightly at the idea of me living at a sorority.

"Don't get me wrong, I know that there are many perks about living in one, but I have a feeling that if they hazed you, you'd probably end up punching someone and getting yourself in trouble," Dimitri said with a laugh, dodging the pinch I tried to place on his arm.

"Plus, I don't think they'd let me sleepover with you," he joked and I snickered, bobbing my head in agreeance.

I flipped over the page and continued looking when Dimitri pulled the catalogue from my hands, holding it away from me.

"I actually have an idea that I wanted to run by you," Dimitri said, sitting down beside me. I mimicked his position and crossed my legs, giving him my undivided attention.

"Lissa and Christian are both going to Tuscaloosa too, and I thought, it may be better for the four of us to rent a place just off-campus. I mean, that way we have our own space, and we don't need to worry about pissing our roommates off at night," Dimitri said. I nodded my head as I mulled the thought over. It was a genuinely good idea, and I liked the idea of having a place for just the four of us.

"I mean, Lissa and Christian won't report us for having loud sex," I joked, laughing loudly at the blush that crossed Dimitri's face. The quick look of embarrassment faded, and he lunged for me, pinning me back on the mattress with a laugh.

I squealed but it ended in a laugh, looping my arms around Dimitri's neck.

"I wouldn't be opposed to that," Dimitri said with a thick laugh, kissing my jaw playfully. I giggled and squirmed at the rough stubble in his face when there was a loud thump on the closed bedroom door.

"Yeah?" I called out.

"Please tell me you two are decent!"

I snorted a laugh and wiggled out from under Dimitri, padding to the door and opening it to find my awkward-looking Baba.

"I get it, you two are teenagers, but please keep the door open," Baba said awkwardly, wincing to himself as he spoke. I laughed and nodded my head, opening the door as far as it would go to appease him.

"Got it. The door stays open," I said with a smirk. Baba nodded and looked at Dimitri, giving him a tight smile before heading towards the stairs. I laughed quietly to myself as I headed back to my bed, plopping down beside Dimitri again.

"I'll talk it over with Baba, but I like the idea of the four of us having our own place," I said, toying with the end of his hair that had fallen in his face. Dimitri smiled and turned his head so he could kiss the inside of my wrist, smiling against my skin.

"It's crazy to think that in a few months, we'll be at university. I feel a little weird about leaving home," Dimitri said quietly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I smiled and leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Me too, but I'm excited too," I said as I ran my finger over the back of his hand.

Dimitri pulled me tighter to him and laid back on the mattress, stroking his thumb over my shoulder.

"I'm going to have to invest in some earplugs though. Between Christian's snoring and yours, I'll never get any sleep."

I gasped and slapped his chest lightly, pushing myself up to look down at him. "I do not snore!"

Dimitri laughed and pulled my back down, wrapping me up in his arms. "Sure Roza, sure."

Five Days Later

My eyes opened and all I could feel was pain. Mind-numbing, crippling, pain. I tried to move but that just made everything else hurt, more importantly, my chest. It hurt to breathe, it felt like I was breathing through a straw.

And the noise. There was so much noise. Beeping, people talking, people touching me. It was disorienting.

"People, we have eyes," someone said loudly and I finally focused on one of the heads above me. It was a man with dark hair and bright blue eyes, holding a small but bright light in his hand. I flinched back when the light went into my eyes, and whimpered at the ricocheting pain that rocked through my brain.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"My name?"

"Yes sweetheart, tell me your name," the guy holding the light over me asked, gently prodding my head.

"Rose," I croaked, yelping in pain as someone else pressed something hard against my chest. I tried to raise my arm, but someone pulled it back down.

"What happened? Where is Dimitri? Where's my dad?" I asked thickly, coughing. The man standing over my head looked me in the eyes.

"You were shot, Rose. Do you remember that?"

I stiffly shook my head when I felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest. I yelled in pain and tried to move away, but two sets of hands held me down. The beeping I heard got louder and I started to feel faint, my vision starting to darken.

"Her chest tube in is, but we need to get her up to surgery. She's going to bleed out," I recalled someone saying, but by the time my eyes met the man above me, I was out.

PLOT TWIST!

I know that it doesn't make much sense, but with the next chapter, everything will be explained!

I also know that it's short, but I couldn't really put anything else into it.

Let me know what you think!